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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Sunday after church and lunch, we headed to Monroe to celebrate Christmas with Daddy's family. This was the first trip for the whole family in the new van. They opened their presents from Paw, Granny, GG, and Uncle Chris. I think they pillow pets from Uncle Chris were a hit! I was proud of Uncle Chris for coming up with this idea all by himself. He's a pharmacist at Walgreen's and was able to get them at a discount.

I didn't take many pictures on Christmas. I guess I just enjoy the frenzy of opening gifts and the fellowship of family. After we ate our traditional Christmas breakfast, we opened gifts. Cameron opened one of his first. It was his first Bible. He helped Daddy read the Christmas story. That afternoon we enjoyed playing some of the board games and Wii games that the kids received.

This was the biggest Christmas so far. Luke, Cameron, & Miriam got new bikes. Levi got a train table & train set and Micah got a kitchen set. Cole enjoyed his first Christmas...he got some "coal" in his stocking, sipped some of ZeeZee's coffee, and took a nap while we opened presents.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Greetings family and friends! Here is our annual end-of-the-year rundown.

After much prayer and consideration, we decided to go ahead with adding a second floor to our house this year. The project kicked-off in late April with plumbing and foundation work. On May 17th the framers started tearing away the existing area where the new section was going, and by Memorial Day weekend they had the new upstairs more-or-less “blacked-in”. A couple more weeks of framing followed, and then in June the A/C and electrical rough-in, and roofing and masonry work was completed. July saw much of the interior work get going, including installing the insulation, hanging and floating the sheetrock, and starting the trim carpentry. August got really exciting around here as the interior painting was finished, and the bathroom and electrical fixtures were all installed. Finally, in September, the flooring, vanities, window blinds, and driveway extension were all completed, finishing the project, as a great kickoff to football season. Everyone please feel free to come visit us soon, and stay a night or two. In the end we added a playroom, 2 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms upstairs, then a garage/storeroom and bathroom downstairs. In October, Luke and Cameron moved into one of the rooms upstairs, which made room for Cole and his crib to move in with Levi (downstairs), and gave Miriam and Micah their own girly room too.

We are so thankful to our general contractor Wayne Dodge (Construction), who did a fantastic job with a very complex and difficult project, having to endure 6 months of Craig’s fastidious and hyper-meticulous nature. Also special thanks to Wayne’s framer Wes Hart, whose crew did an unbelievable job of making sure no rain ever got into our home, during the framing days. A final big thank you to Rick (the best dad and father-in-law in the world) for putting in a limestone driveway and 3 catch basins, allowing us a way to drive back to our barn, where we parked our vehicles during the project.

Craig (38) – He continues to sing with the Parkview Praise Team and Choir and lead the Children’s Choir; and, he finally retired his last aquarium, and got to see the Saints win a Super Bowl and a Johnny’s Pizza open in Baton Rouge in the same year (yay!). He also continues his instrument engineering work at Jacobs Engineering, where he got the opportunity to work with 2 new clients this year.

Candi (35) – She is busy homeschooling the kids and continues to blog about homeschool and family activities. She once again participated in the Mommytography 365 project and continues to learn more about photography. She even had a couple of photo shoots…a wedding in May and senior pictures in November.

Luke (7½) – He is in 3rd grade this year and loves math and geography. He really enjoys football and many other sports, and played Upward Basketball (Rattlers) at Woodlawn Baptist, coaches pitch baseball (Cubs) at Istrouma Baptist, and YMCA flag football (Cubs). Luke also enjoyed playing his first year of fantasy football.

Cameron (6) – He is in 1st grade this year, but in general doesn’t really enjoy school. This year Cameron became a lot more interested in football. He played YMCA flag football (Red Dragons) again and was often the quarterback for his team. He will play Upward Basketball, starting in just a few weeks.

Both Luke and Cameron attended 2 music camps this summer. The first was a children’s choir camp called “Art-Is-In”. On Friday night of the camp, they presented a musical called “2 Tickets to Hollywood.” Luke played the part of an actor named “Basil Filamore” and sang his first solo. Cameron was one of the bull-fighter dancers in the same song. The second camp was a week-long fine arts camp where they learned how they use fine arts to worship God. They also got to attend many football games (high school & LSU) with Daddy.

Miriam (4½) – She is doing more structured preschool work and already knows all of the letters and many of their sounds. She continues to love “girly” things like jewelry, purses, and especially make-up and lipstick (Thanks to Aunt Laura & ZeeZee). She really liked the Father/Daughter Sweetheart dance that Daddy took her to in February. Currently she enjoys taking care of Cole and helping with her cousins Grace and Elliott when they are visiting.

Levi (2½ 3½) – He is doing some preschool work while the others do their schoolwork. He knows his shapes, colors, and numbers and now can “write” his name. He really enjoys playing with the train set and riding his bike. Levi got to go to his 1st LSU game when they played McNeese State.

Micah (2½) – Micah does some of the same preschool work as Levi when she’s interested. She’s a girly girl…she loves to play with purses and shoes! She’s definitely in the terrible two stage right now, trying both Mommy & Daddy’s patience!

Cole (5 months) – Cole Benjamin was born on July 3, 2010 at 3:50 pm weighing 8 lbs and was 19.5 inches long. He is a very content baby and loves being around his older siblings.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Yesterday, we had some friends over to have our annual Christmas fellowship. We don't get to see these friends as often as we used to when the older kids were preschoolers. However, both of the families homeschool so we do see them at homeschool events. Ms. Sherry used to be our children's minister when Luke & Cameron were little. We don't get to see her too often except at birthday parties. Levi didn't want to get in the picture, so Ms. Sherry just “photoshopped” him in...LOL! Today the twins from down the street brought Luke & Cameron their present. It seems that the moms had the same idea because we both bought walkie talkies.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Saturday night our choir sang at Holiday Harmony at Perkins Rowe. Area choirs sang selections and led in Christmas carols. There were activities for the kids as well…Santa, elves on stilts passing out candy canes, free cokes and hot chocolate, clowns making balloon animals.

Saturday we celebrated Christmas with Uncle Lee, Aunt Lauren, and Grace. They were in town for a wedding and on their way to Florida where they celebrate Christmas with Aunt Lauren's family. Luke received a Boston Celtics shirt. (Aunt Lauren is from Cape Cod). He put it on immediately and wore it that night when we went out. Cameron got some Dick & Jane reading books (he’s already starting reading some of them), Miriam got 2 new dresses, Levi got a collection of Curious George stories, Micah got 2 books for "school time", and Cole got a Saints onesie. They also got a R2D2 is in Trouble game. Can you tell that Grace loved the doggie that Daddy (Uncle Craig) picked out for her?

Friday, December 17, 2010

I intended to make these yesterday for our school snack since Levi was counting horses and horses eat hay! Can you tell I like themes? Well anyway, the original recipe calls for butterscotch chips and peanuts. Well I didn’t have any butterscotch or peanuts, so I just used some white chocolate chips and I picked out the cashews out of a can of mixed nuts. I made just a little batch for our school work snack, then after I read Amy’s Chocolate Friday post, I decided to make some other variations. I had 3 bags of different chocolate chips that only had a little in each one so I made the following batches: Nestle Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels, Andes Crème de Menthe chips, and white chocolate chips with almonds from the mixed nuts can.

On Tuesday, Levi made the H house craft and we read the house books (that were mine when I was little). So I picked up a gingerbread house at Walmart that we could decorate. Yes, it was the one that was already assembled. All we had to do was decorate it.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Tuesday we had a fieldtrip to the California Pizza Kitchen in Perkins Rowe. We got a tour of the restaurant. Then each kid got to make their own pizza. They had activity booklets for them to do while they were waiting for their tour and for the pizza to cook. Luke & Cameron enjoyed being with their best friends.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Sunday afternoon Luke & Cameron were marching in the Jones Creek Christmas Parade since they're playing Upward basketball at Woodlawn Baptist. My mom invited us over for lunch after church for Frito pie and hotdogs. The kids quickly ate and we headed out to the parade. After the parade, we went back to her house for some yummy goodies and hot chocolate. She had marshmallows and apples for dipping in chocolate and a variety of toppings. Can you tell who enjoyed it?

Combine cake mix, eggs, sour cream, Kahlua, and oil in a bowl. Using mixer, beat at low speed to blend ingredients. Increase speed and beat 3-5 minutes on med or fast speed. Stir in choc chips. Pour batter into greased pans. We use small “tin” or aluminum pans (they take less time) but any size will do. Bake at 350 F for 55-60 minutes. We use a toothpick to check for doneness, it should come out “clean”. Let cool for about 30 minutes.

Well for the Homeschool Ladies Fellowship, I decided to use the recipe to make cupcakes. I baked the big ones for about 30 minutes and the mini ones for about 20 minutes. Then I made some cream cheese frosting that I dyed green. Then Miriam helped me decorate them with different Christmas sprinkles and toppings.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Wednesday we went to the Jackson Zoo with our friends, the Ragsdales. They moved to the Jackson area this summer so it's nice that we're still able to visit them when we go to Clinton. Plus we get in the Jackson Zoo for free with our Baton Rouge Zoo Membership. We only had to pay $1 for parking. It was a nice day and yes they're wearing shorts the day before Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Friday, November 19, 2010

Yesterday, we had our 3rd annual homeschool Thanksgiving celebration at my house. This year we didn’t have as many participate, but we still had around 70 people. First we gathered for instructions and prayer. Then we started rotating to our different stations.

At the Thanksgiving info station, Mrs. Tiany read info from The Thanksgiving Story by Dagliesh and the kids got to create a Thanksgiving sticker scene. Next station was the Oreo Turkey made from a graham cracker, chocolate icing, oreo, candy corn and goldfish. Next they made pilgrim hats with Mrs. Rachel. She did such a great job with these. She explains how to make them on her blog. Then she read them a story about how clothes were made during that time period. Next was the butter station. Here they got to make their own butter from heavy whipping cream by shaking it in a plastic container. Then Mrs. Starr explained how wheat is ground and made into bread. They also got to try grinding wheat using a hand grinder and she also showed them her electric grinder. After the butter was made, they got to eat some of it on her homemade bread. YUMMO! At the pumpkin info station, Mrs. Amanda told them many different facts about pumpkins. She did a great job making charts and games for the station. Last was the picture frame station where they made frames to put their picture. I took their picture at the pilgrim hat station after their hat was finished. Then of course, we had a big feast!